Hitting 2018 Running

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope your first couple of weeks of 2018 have been fabulous! I've been very busy with writing projects of various sorts and trying not to eat the cookies leftover from the holidays. All the decorations are put away, the lights are turned off (although they are white so we keep them up all year in case we feel the need to celebrate something), and we're rolling into tax season.

Could there be a bigger letdown? No more Hallmark holiday movies, bright lights and trees making the house smell like pine. No more Christmas cards in the mailbox,only 1099s. It's easy to get down. And for those who don't celebrate Christmas there are lots of other holidays to enjoy. Nearly ever culture has a winter holiday.

But there's also a unique energy for January that I feel the moment I close the last box of ornaments.Time for change, time to clear closets and get rid of anything that's weighing us down. Time to get back on the FitDesk! With a bottle of fizzy water and some fruit to snack on.

Well...I need an incentive to exercise!
And time to write! I have so many projects lined up for this year that I can't wait for everyone to read. Claimed by Her Dragons released last week in the Paranormal Dating Agency Kindle World. I love anything with dragons so having this as my first release of 2018 is especially fun. And it's a menage...if one dragon is amazing, what must two be?

I cook for a Type 2 Diabetic husband and since the New Year is the time of healthy eating, I am once again working very hard on preparing meals that don't bump his sugar into the stratosphere. Not that I served him a bowl of sugar during the holidays or anything but it just seemed that everywhere he went he was offered things he could't refuse without being rude. But he's enthusiastic as well. So I have to strike while the iron is hot, or the stove, or...well, you get it. So recipe suggestions welcome.  Somehow he doesn't find veggies salad, and simple proteins that exciting.

Here's to 2018. May it be your best year yet, filled with love and life and good health and joy. May you have a warm home, a bowl of soup, a loaf of fresh crusty bread, and someone to hug you while you eat it. I'm including my recipe for bean soup. One of my favorite cold-weather dishes.

White Bean Soup

1 lb bag white beans, checked for rocks and rinsed of dirt.

Place beans in pot and cover with water by  two inches.  Bring to a boil then turn off, cover, and allow to sit for at least one hour.

Drain water and refill with fresh cold water, again a couple of inches deeper than the beans and bring to a boil. Add a quartered white onion, three chopped cloves of garlic, one diced carrot, two tablespoons of tomato paste, and salt and pepper. If you have a ham bone or some bacon, add that now. Bring to a boil again and cook 2-3 hours until beans are soft. Check to see if you need any more salt and pepper and serve.